In the field of regenerative medicine, somatic cells are cultured by inducing the differentiation of stem cells such as iPS cells and ES cells. Because iPS cells and ES cells are not homogeneous, somatic cells cultured from such cells are also inhomogeneous. Thus, techniques for selectively recovering the cells are studied.
The cell recovery techniques rely on such methods as flow cytometry and magnetic cell separation. These methods involve dispersing the cells in a solution and consequently cause a significant damage to the cells. To address this problem, Patent Literatures 1 to 3 propose that the recovery is made by the application of light so as to cause a change in an adhesive layer to which the cells adhere.